Simplicity of Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lalbahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of Bharat. He was the personification of honesty and nobility. Many incidents in his life inspire us. This is an incident which shows his honesty and nobility.

Once, when Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Prime Minister, he paid a visit to a textile mill. He was accompanied by the owner of the mill, some dignitaries from his office and some other important personalities in the society. After going around the mill, he went to see the mill's warehouse. Here, his eyes fell on some sarees displayed there. He requested the mill owner to show some sarees to him. The owner of the mill and his salesman showed him various kinds of sarees. Each one of them was unique and of a high quality. Shastriji asked the owner, "The sarees are beautiful; what are they priced?"

The mill owner started telling him the price of different sarees, "This is worth Rs. 800, this is for Rs.1000, etc." Shastriji said, "These are too expensive; show me sarees which are less expensive."

So the mill owner started showing him other sarees, quoting prices like Rs. 500, Rs.400 and so on. Shastriji said, "These sarees are very expensive. Show me some sarees which are still cheaper and affordable for a poor person like me." The mill owner said, "You are our Prime Minister, how can you be called poor ? Moreover we are offering these sarees as a gift to you".

"No my dear friend, I cannot accept such expensive gifts", said Shastriji. The owner however insisted that, "Giving a gift to our Prime Minister is our privilege."

To which Shastriji replied, "Yes, I may be the Prime Minister, but that does not mean that I should accept all those things that i cannot afford and give them to my wife. Although, I am a Prime Minister, I am of limited means. Please show me some cheaper sarees. I will buy those that I can afford."

The mill owner pleaded in vain. Finally the Prime Minister of the country purchased sarees that were affordable to him !

This shows that Lal Bahadur Shastri was so honest and noble that temptations could not sway him at all.